


one is the loneliest number

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: ):, AND HE DOES NOT GET ONE, Angst, Angst and Feels, Apocalypse fic, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, It’s Just Suffering, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, everyone is dead but Five, yall know what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: This actually fits all of today’s prompts: Grief, mourning a loved one (s), and survivor's guiltBrick by brick, Five takes care of his family as best he can.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947877
Comments: 13
Kudos: 116
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	one is the loneliest number

Brick by brick. 

Five dug, sleeves rolled up, dirt coating his face, the straps of his hat knocking against his cheek. 

Brick by brick. 

“ _Five, little Number Five, you don’t need to-_ “ 

The sky was filled with ash, choking him, clogging the sky and plummeting the temperature of the earth's surface, separating it from the heavens. He had no doubt the sun and moon were there, behind the clouds, still shining. He just couldn’t see them. Or feel them. 

“ _Five you need to find food and water or something- don’t waste time here-“_

He huffed, wiping his head and grimacing at the sweat there. He was wasting valuable time and energy doing this, but he couldn’t… he couldn’t just _leave_ them. Dolores watched from the wagon, silent and still. He’d met her a few days ago, the only survivor he’d ever found. She was kind and seemed to understand his equations and his need to take care of this. 

“ _Damnit, Five, she’s right. They’re just bodies. We aren’t- we aren’t in them anymore-“_

Five huffed, wiping his hands on his ragged shorts. He stood, shaky, and grabbed the leg, pulling on it with all his might. He grunted, straining, heaving until he finally managed to start moving. Another huff as he dragged the body out of the pile of twisted metal, impossibly heavy. Five hissed, blinking tears and sweat out of his eyes, “What was your last meal, Klaus, _cement?_ ” 

“ _Oh, Five-_ “ 

He choked on a watery laugh as, with a thump, he dropped his brother’s corpse next to the others. 

Five’s shoulders slumped, looking over his handiwork. 

“ _We’re here, Five, you’re not alone.”_

He’d gotten them all together, how they belonged. He had searched and searched, but he hadn’t found Vanya or Ben. Wherever they were… he hoped it was better than here. 

Five kelt down, the ash and dirt digging into his knees as he began to rebury the foreign yet eerily familiar faces of his siblings, brick by brick. 

“ _Five, please, you don’t have too._ ”

His arms trembled as he pulled from the stack of debris, unable to stop the blurring of tears. He had to do this. This was the least he could do, after he hadn’t been there to help them. He was supposed to save them. He was supposed to be there to stop things like this. But he’d been stupid and arrogant and he’d run, and he’d left them behind, and they had died. 

Five dropped the stone over, standing for a moment, shoulders hunched and shaking as he stood by the bodies of his siblings, seventeen years too late. 

“ _You’re not alone Five._ ”

He had to finish. 

He had to save them. 

“ _I’m sorry, I didn’t- we didn’t know you came here-“_

Brick by brick. 

Five wiped his eyes and began again, unaware of the six ghosts who stood around him, unseen, finally bringing the family back to seven. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is here: https://ford-ye-fiji.tumblr.com/


End file.
